Video: Young Black Woman Pummeled By Madison Police

Many questions arise over the brutal arrest of Genele Laird

Black demonstrators rallied around Genele Laird, 18, who was savagely beaten and arrested by Madison police on Tuesday.

A video of an aggressive takedown went viral within several hours after it was posted on Facebook.

The incident ensued at the mall food court after Laird confronted an employee about her stolen phone. During the argument Laird allegedly pulled out the knife and flashed it in front of the employee and security staff threatening to kill them.

Shortly after the incident was reported to police, multiple officers arrived only to escalate the situation.

Laird was forced outside of the mall and brutally slammed to the ground. The video shows two officers piled on top of Laird manhandling the helpless woman.

The officers proceeded to unleash a fury of fists to the woman’s torso while she was lying facedown on the concrete. To have Laird completely restrained they used a Taser on her legs and put a spit mask over her head. Apparently, at some point during the fighting, the officers did something that caused an obstruction to Laird’s breathing since she could be heard saying “I can’t breathe”.

The incident landed Genele Laird in jail on tentative charges disorderly conduct while armed, resisting police and causing injury, battery to a police officer and discharge of bodily fluids.

Interestingly, the video was no longer available early Wednesday. It was so until a longer version was posted on YouTube. There’s also no evidence of Laird wielding a knife. However, it’s clear that the officers were behaving in a gang fashion but were never indicted.

Laird’s family and friends think there was no reason to use so much force against her. They demand a restorative justice approach to be taken.

“I just want to say Genele is a good child a good young lady. She’s a loving person. She loves animals, she’s assistant manager for her store. She doesn’t have any record. What happened to her was unfair. She didn’t deserve this. No one deserves this, what happened to her”, said Genele’s aunt.